A deer caught in the headlights: ‘to be so frightened or surprised that you cannot move or think.’
One stag was the very definition of this recently while acting on its sexual urges, when the head of the fellow ‘deer’ it was enthusiastically humping simply fell off.
Don’t worry, this isn’t some dark story about an animal accidentally killing one of its own, for which I’ve somehow failed to give you the appropriate warning. Nope, the ‘deer’ was actually a statue. Though the real deer certainly fell for it.
You can watch the hilarious moment unfold below:
The video, filmed in Eldorado, Illinois, on November 9, shows a wild stag standing next to the deer statue in a family’s backyard before scoping out the area.
Looking around as though to check nobody’s watching, the deer sniffs at the statue before mounting it. He then tries to get himself into position, sniffing the statue’s head while attempting to get closer to its new ‘lover’.
In all honesty, the poor guy looks a bit confused as to why he’s not getting any attention, despite his romantic advances, and doesn’t really seem to be in the moment, constantly readjusting himself in an attempt to find a better angle.
But alas, it wasn’t to be as, in one last-ditch attempt to change positions, the deer presses too hard on the statue’s head and it falls right off.
The stag stares at the decapitated head for a split second before jumping off the statue in disbelief and moving away from the crime scene, looking back at the broken statue as if to confirm what just happened.
As he checks out the damage he’s caused, the cameraman can be heard chuckling in the background as another person says, ‘uh oh’. Uh oh indeed, as the crestfallen buck can’t seem to work out what the hell has happened, and simply stands there staring back at the statue.
The animal then walks tentatively towards the broken head and gives it a good old sniff, still looking around in a confused manner and seemingly questioning all of its life choices.
Unfortunately the video ends there, so we’re clueless as to what happened next. Did the stag realise it was just a statue and continue with its quest to find a girlfriend? Did he stay in the garden pining for something that never was?
Or did he try his luck with the smaller wolf/dog statue that’s visible throughout the video?
I hope not, or that family will have to start invoicing him for the damages.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).